Chillin’ Yukon Style

Before I left the Yukon I needed to get the full-on experience with some full-on locals. I found Brett and Eva on the internet as the only known people to have ever actually made it to the very very remote Deer River Hot Springs – Brett loves telling all his friends I’m an Australian he met on the internet

Brett and Eva live about 30 mins from Whitehorse in a beautiful house completely off-grid. Their whole setup includes a guest cabin, a river and creek flowing by, five dogs, two sheep, a mega vegetable garden, a wicked solar setup and running hot and cold water. Further down the road they have a cabin to “get away from it all” that I swear has been used in countless photos as the pinnacle of cabin living. There is no road access, so it’s a half hour hike or a trip across the lake in the freighter canoe. We loaded in the three of us, a ton of gear, five dogs and splashed our way across the whitecaps to the awaiting paradise.

Dan Freighter Canoe

It’s hard to describe how picturesque the the cabin is – it’s a beautiful hand made two story log cabin building tucked in between the lake and the mountains behind.

Approaching Cabin

The sun was beaming down and after getting a bunch of odd jobs finished up it was the most amazing feeling to sit on the deck unable to see or hear signs of people in any direction. I felt like we were 500 miles from anywhere with the entire place to ourselves.

The Cabin

A bald eagle was calling a near-by bluff home so I hiked over to have a closer look. I was about 10 meters from the enormous nest when I got my first good look – just as the eagle took full flight and powered away. Wow.

Bald Eagle

We’ve been doing a ton of things around the place and I have stacks of photos and stories yet to sort through and post online.

Hiking Behind Cabin

I think I’m on top of the recent down-time of my site, I’m still working out some glitches with my hosting and WordPress/plugins in general.

greetings from the other side of the earth! singapore to be exact… Jus happen to chance upon yr blog when i was reading up on the magic bus aft watching into the wild… man, u are leading an amazing life that i can only dream of! its simply unbelievable!!! amazing!!! ALL THE WAY!!!

Hi Dan,
It’s been great having you visit us – great company, lots of fantastic help, love that you and Brett cut enough wood for the whole winter! ..and I absolutely think you should stay the winter – if you think summer is beautiful, winter kick’s ass! You would love it and head down on your journey in the spring. Cheers, Eva

Thanks Eva, I’ve had a fantastic time here. You know how tempted I am to stay, but I’m so ready for summer now – I mean real summer sitting on the beach and surfing!
I’ll see you guys down the road, maybe in Oz

Eva works full time in Whitehorse to pay the bills. It seems most people out there have one person working in town and the other working around the house full time caring for animals, garden, firewood, snow clearing, etc. They don’t have a blog or anything like that, unfortunately.

wow. I’m really glad that I stumbled upon your blog, I have been daydreaming of a trip on the Pan-American highway for quite some time (mode of transportation doesn’t matter much, bicycle, 4×4 motorcycle, walk). simply put, you and I are cut from the same cloth. since my last true LONG adventure (thru hike of the PCT) I have been thinking long and hard about what I want to accomplish next. I have been planning on doing the continental divide trail next (in 2016) but it just so happens that I bought a BMW Dakar motorbike and my desires are starting to change. I have been enthralled with Alaska/the Yukon since I was very young and I think I’m going to do a rather long tour throughout the Canadian Rockies over to the Yukon and Alaska. It would be really great to get some more info from you on what’s worth seeing along the way. keep on doing what your doing man. your photos and info really have me chomping at the bit. take care -carter-

Hey Carter, thanks for the message.
There is so much endless terrain up here to explore, I’m sure you would absolutely love it.
Your BMW bike sounds perfect for a summer of adventure in the North – who knows, you might even ride a long way South….

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